De Philosophia Librorum

It is easy to see how books could become a religion. All of the major religions of the world
have some system of texts and codifying knowledge for the transmission, across generations,
of wisdom and appreciation of the sacred - even if the tradition is oral much of it has become
written down; even many of the less prominent systems of belief have their holy literature.
Books, codices, clay tablets, etc., have intuitively become a source for answers in our lives.
Many find their definition of solace in reading the stories, fictional or real, of others; their pasts,
their heroic qualities, their skeletons in the closet, searching for an underlying commonality, a
shared experience and what happens to the good guy in the end. Many others search for the
answer itself in the tomes of scientists and spiritualists who delve directly into the unknowns of
the Universe for the key that unlocks the door to complete understanding.
Borges saw this in his story, "The Library of Babel", in which he compares the secrets of the
Universe to a library stretching endlessly upward with us, the human race, as the patrons. We
spend our temporally minute lives pouring over what we can find in the infinite number of
possible books looking for the one to sum it all up.
Even in this world, the "real" story of our lives, we search for the One Book, the one tangible
thing we can grab a hold of that can give us the Answer we seek. We surround ourselves with the
literature of others wanting their answer to be ours. The problem, however, is not in the
collection and study of others' works and ideas, it is the seeking of another's One. No book
contains the One objective solution or answer. Jesus, according to the Gospel of Thomas saying
3, says "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the kingdom is in heaven,' then the birds of heaven
will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the
kingdom is inside you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known,
and you will understand that you are children of the living father. But if you do not know
yourselves, then you will dwell in poverty, and you are poverty." The importance of this
statement lies in learning that there is no One source for the Answer. We must find our answers
everywhere and never limit our experiences. In this respect, books become a priceless source for
the keys to unlock the doors to our own mysteries, but not the answers themselves.

"2 Jesus said, 'Let one who seeks not stop seeking until one finds. When one finds, one will be
troubled.
When one is troubled, one will marvel and will rule over all.'" - Gospel of Thomas